End Of Our Times
by crazytomboy78
Summary: A reflection on Johnny and Dukey's relationship as Dukey reaches the ending processes of his life. One-shot.


Johnny had anticipated this summer all school year. Every day he'd think about the fun stuff he and Dukey could do now that they were older and Johnny was to go off to college at the end of the summer. He planned to take Dukey with him so they could be together through the good and the bad, just like their whole childhood. They stuck together through thick and thin, and he wasn't about to stop because of college.

That's right, college. He had celebrated his senior year with partying, fun and taking it easy. He had seized every chance and every opportunity to have as much fun as possible to gear himself up for the wild adventure called college. He wanted senior year, and his first year of college to be the best years of his life. Little did he know just how much fun he wasn't going to have.

Johnny was elated when summer finally came. He had so many fun things planned for them to do together. Two whole months of no school, no snow and no cold, chilly weather; boy was it going to be fun! They could do things now that they had always wanted to do but couldn't do, due to the limitations of age. He had it set in his mind that the fun times would last forever.

If only he knew just how wrong he was.

Through the whole summer, all of June and July, and the few weeks of August that Johnny would still be at home, they participated in fun summer activities that were on the very extreme side, which of course were normal for Johnny. Anything and everything that would make every last minute of his freedom worth the while he was giving it.

Yet Johnny noticed that with each ongoing day, Dukey seemed to grow weaker. He didn't want to notice it, but he did. And it _scared_ him.

With this, however, Dukey noticed too. He noticed with a scorching sadness that he was aging a lot. At first he didn't accept it and didn't let it soak into his mind, but it had its way of rearing its ugly head every chance it got. He learned over the summer, in this long, excruciating process of aging, though, that nothing that seemed perfect lasted forever. He learned that life was not perfect, everyone had their time, and his was coming soon. I'm almost _sixteen_, he thought, what was I thinking? Dogs don't last that long. I'm just lucky I've lasted this long so far.

Dukey _had _been taking a lot of naps lately, and with this he had a lot of time to think. He had a lot of time to reflect on the life he had lived and he realized just how lucky he was to be a _talking _dog. But he realized just how lonely it could be, too. Other dogs can't really understand you once you gain the ability to talk, and then you can never find the companionship you're yearning for in another dog. Sure, there's human-to-dog companionship, and he would never forget that. He would always treasure the time he and Johnny had had together throughout their many, many years together. He remembered the day he had gained the ability to talk…

**[Unexpected] flashback!**

_A little boy walked slowly through his town's local dog pound, carefully observing all the available dogs. There was a range of different breeds—from poodles to German Sheppards to chow chows, there was a lot to choose from. Short, wrinkly dogs, drooling, large dogs, you name it. They were all there. _

_But none of them where was young Johnny Test, five years old, really wanted. He wanted a unique dog, something out of the ordinary. _

_That's when he spotted him. A small, brown, unsightly looking puppy, who had patches where his fur had seemed to be falling off, and healing wounds, sat in the corner of his stall, looking to be afraid of the scary, big people standing outside his stall. Johnny smiled widely. Something about the puppy stuck out for him. Something seemed…different, about him. _

"_Mommy, daddy, I want this one!" Johnny said, tugging on his father's pant leg. His mother was on the phone with work business, so she turned away in an attempt to listen to the other end of her phone._

"_Are you sure, son? He doesn't look like he's really the best choice. Why don't you want one of these other dogs? Look, this one looks cute!" Hugh insisted, pointing to a doberman on the end of the row of cages._

"_NO, daddy, I want this one!" Johnny pouted his puppy-dog pout, which won Hugh over. He sighed._

"_Fine, you can have this one. But you have to promise you'll take good care of him!" Johnny nodded enthusiastically in happiness. He was getting a dog; the perfect dog._

"_I think I'll name you…Dukey."_

_~…~_

"_Sit boy! Sit!" Johnny commanded, holding up the treat so his new dog could see it as a reward for sitting, like he was told. The dog sat, contently staring at the treat. He _really_ wanted it. Johnny sighed. Couldn't dogs do more than just sit when they're told and stand when they're not?_

"_I wish you could talk. Then you'd be more interesting, huh boy?" Johnny said, resting his chin in his hands._

"_Hey Johnny," Susan and Mary chirped as they passed him on their way to the lab. Then Johnny smiled widely and rushed over to the lab, his new dog rushing behind him in excitement._

"_Susan! Mary! Make my dog talk!" Johnny demanded, bursting into his seven-year-old sister's lab. _

"_Why?" They asked._

"_Because I want him to talk! Do it or I'll bother you until you do!" He demanded._

"_Alright, fine! We'll make him talk!" _

_A little while later, the girls presented to Johnny their 'DNA Enhancer Machine', a machine that in short, would make Dukey talk. So after leading Dukey inside the machine, activating it, and a little yelping, Dukey stumbled out on his two hind legs._

"_That kind of hurt," He said. Johnny smiled widely. _

**Flashback endd.**

_Ahh, what a great day that was. _Dukey thought.

"Come on, dog, we're going to be late for _Blood, Violence and Rated-R Fun_!" Johnny exclaimed, running down the stairs to see what his faithful and beloved dog was doing, only to find him laying on the floor, looking like he was very tired; like he was just woken up from a nap, which he had been taking a lot of.

"Dukey, what's the matter?" Johnny asked. Dukey sighed weakly.

"Johnny, no one lives forever." He said. Johnny swallowed hard in fear. He didn't like where he was confident this conversation was going. He knew Dukey was getting old, but he fought the idea of the inevitable ever since it was first brought up.

"What are you saying?" Johnny asked, his voice drowned in concern and fear.

"I'm saying I'm too old and weak to play fun and games with you, Johnny. It's time to face facts, I'm old and my time is limited. We're not the same two kids we used to be, Johnny." Dukey explained. Johnny shook his head wildly.

"No no no, don't say that. Come on, buddy, you can get up! You can go! Come on, boy!" He panicked.

"No, I can't. Why don't you just go hang out with Sissy?" Dukey suggested. Johnny noticed that every time his dog opened his mouth, his voice seemed weaker. He was shaking as well. Johnny knew what it meant, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Dukey, you're not feeling well," Johnny tried to avoid actually saying the dreaded D word, "My girlfriend can wait." He explained.

"Come on, Johnny I'll be fine. Just go have some fun." Dukey insisted.

"No, I'm not leaving. You're my dog and my best friend and I won't leave your side until I know you're okay." _Even if that means you're gone._

They were silent for a moment.

"Come on, I'm taking you to Susan and Mary." Johnny scooped up Dukey into his arms and noticed that he was surprisingly lighter than he expected.

"Susan, Mary, Dukey's sick. I'm really worried. Do something to cure him!" Johnny demanded. Susan and Mary, home for the summer, paid no mind to their brother.

"Well, Johnny, Dukey is getting old. He's not going to last forever you know," Susan said as she worked.

"NO! Don't say that! You're all saying the same thing!" Johnny stormed out of the lab, leaving his sisters concerned. Johnny set Dukey back on the living room floor and sitting down beside him, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

Hours passed with them just sitting on the living room floor, the room heavy with silence as Johnny thought of how all his fun was about to end. How the end seemed near, and how all his plans for this summer seemed to be ruined. They'd been best friends for as long as the boy could remember, and now that all seemed to be slipping away from him. It would all be taken away from him soon in one fellow swoop.

Soon enough Johnny hugged his knees close to his chest and began to mutter to himself "You're okay, you're not slipping under. You're just going to take a nap soon, that's all," He seemed to be going mental. His sisters and his parents watched from a safe distance (in separate rooms,) and felt sorry for their hysteric brother/son. He was losing his best friend, and their family was losing a member. They all saw the day coming, but they didn't expect it so soon.

As Dukey wore thinner, Johnny began to seriously reflect on his friendship with his dog.

We're best friends, he thought, for life. It was meant to be that way from the beginning, and it would stay that way to the very last day Johnny breathed life into. Even if Dukey wasn't there to share it with him, he knew he would always have a best friend for life and a best friend for real.

You came across a good friend at one point in your life; everyone does. A good friend lasts you a while but a true friend lasts you for life. A true friend leaves an impression in your heart that stays, no matter which different ways you and your true friend go. They stay with you forever and for always; they're a promise.

And that's what Dukey is to me, Johnny thought. A promise. A promise that no matter where I am, no matter what I'm doing, no matter where you are, I'll always have someone to be there for me through thick and thin to cheer me up when I'm sad and calm me down when I'm angry, and be my voice of reason through crazy times. A friend for real. A friend for life. We're stuck together like glue, you and me, Johnny thought.

He noticed in Dukey's eyes that his last minutes were upon him. Johnny saw the weakness in his eyes and he saw just how much Dukey was fighting to stay alive. He knew it was time to say goodbye. Tears stained Johnny's cheeks and stayed there, sparkling on his face.

"I don't want to say goodbye, boy," Johnny said. "But I know its just your time. So I just…wanted to thank you, for being my friend all these years and dealing with me for so long. You're a true pal, you know. We're like two peas in a pod, you and me. I know you don't really like run-on, rambly, sad goodbyes and I don't really like them either, but you're my best friend, and I love you, buddy…" Johnny said.

"Johnny, don't be sad. Now I can look after you from somewhere else. I can guide you through every single day through your soul and your mind and spirit. I'll still always be with you, just not physically. Life is full of riddles and surprises and death is just one of them. Its just my physical being that's gone; my spirit is still here and its gonna stay with you the rest of eternity," Dukey whispered; with each word his voice grew quieter.

"I love ya too, Johnny." He added.

"You're my buddy, boy, and nothing will ever change that." Johnny laid down, resting his head close to Dukey's, both of them drifting into sleep.

Except, this time, when Johnny woke up, Dukey wouldn't.

~…~

A few hours later, Johnny awoke to see Dukey's face close to his. He sighed as he remembered what had happened before he had fallen asleep. He noticed the total lifelessness in Dukey's closed eyes and knew they wouldn't open no matter how hard he tried. And he knew that using his sisters to bring Dukey back to life wasn't a good idea because maybe it was Dukey's time to go. Johnny slept (and dreamt) away the blinding anger stage and he was up to the despair, sadness and depression stage. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Dukey had been his very best and closest friend. They had been closer than two peas in a pod. You wouldn't meet two closer best friends. So once Dukey passed on, Johnny didn't know what he'd do. He felt like there was a big hole in his heart that had been freshly cut out, and the pain was still heavy. And as the pain would go away, there would always be a large, empty black hole in his heart that only Dukey could fill.

True, he had Sissy and he loved her too, but there's a significant difference between a best friend and a girlfriend or boyfriend. And that difference is larger when that best friend was your dog. Your 'fuzzy buddy'. No more pat on the back. No more annoying voice of reason standing behind him saying this is wrong, you shouldn't do this and no dog to say there's something eerily familiar about this situation. Just a creepy silence hovering beside him.

And furthermore, all the fun times they would have together are now gone. No more wacky, crazy, extreme experiment-caused adventures that they would solve together. There would be no one walking beside him to school and patiently waiting beside him when he got out. He would miss everything about his life that Dukey had been beside him for for a long time.

But the positive side of the situation was that Dukey was in a better place now. He was resting in peace somewhere, watching over everyone carefully. He was happy, not suffering and not in pain anymore. He was in a carefree, pain-free world.

And that's the all the best Johnny could ask for his best friend.

**I hope I got the main point of the story across to you…it's supposed to be mainly about Johnny and Dukey's relationship. Review? **


End file.
